Coming to New York
by DFM
Summary: Rachel tries to talk to Jesse after the debacle that was Nationals. St Berry


**Title:** Coming to New York

**Fandom/Pairing:** Glee - Jesse/Rachel

**Genre: **Missing Scene

**Spoiler:** New York (really any ep with Jesse in it to be safe)

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Rachel tries to talk to Jesse after the debacle that was Nationals.

**Disclaimer: **If it looks or sounds like something from Glee, I don't own it.

**A/N:** So, lucklessforhim got me hooked on St. Berry fics... which apparently meant I had to try and write one lol. Hopefully it's somewhat readable :D

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><p>Jesse knew the second he saw the look on her face that he was going to regret purchasing a ticket to New York. And no, it had nothing to do with the 'Superman of kisses'... what the hell did Rachel ever see in this guy?<p>

Rachel was a great actress and a fabulous singer, but in real life she posted her emotions in big letters across a marquee. And right now, Rachel Berry was extremely uncomfortable.

If he didn't know her so well, he could brush it off as a girl's normal reaction to being unexpectedly slobbered on in public. Unfortunately, he did know her and saw the tension that was already residing in her shoulders while she spoke to Hudson, increase as he stepped forward and let his presence be known. He tried to relax her by praising her nearly flawless performance, with the obvious exception of an unworthy duet partner, but it did very little good.

Jesse was not going to like the answer he came to New York to get.

##

She found him sitting in the lobby of their hotel, scratching out notes on well-worn sheet music, stopping occasionally as his fingers moved across an invisible piano, playing notes only he could hear. Rachel felt her stomach clench painfully as she watched him and almost turned to walk away. Unfortunately, there was very little inherent drama in just fleeing the scene, and at the very least they both deserved to have their inner drama queens satisfied.

"Hey," she said softly, as she took up the plush seat beside him.

Jesse spared her a glance, but never really diverted his attention from the project in front of him. "Rach, if you came here to break up with me, I'm going to be forced to point out that we were never really dating."

His flippant response was exactly what she expected, but she was unable to school her features to completely mask the guilt. "Jesse - "

Finally pushing aside the sheet music, he turned to look at her and Rachel suddenly wished she hadn't forced his hand. She hadn't thought it was possible for him to look more angry or hurt than he did after the _Run Joey Run _debacle, but in that moment he did. "Rachel, I'm not used to losing... In fact, before you came along, I had a 17 year win streak going. So, you're going to have to cut me some slack for not knowing how to handle this."

"You didn't lose," she protested, but it sounded weak even to her own ears.

"How do you figure? On my first consultation, not one person listened to any of my suggestions, despite the fact that my record should speak for itself. We kiss, but then you tell me not to come out to New York, saying that you can't risk being distracted during Nationals, only to see _Hudson_ sticking his tongue down your throat - _unscripted_ - when I eventually do decide to come and support you. Where are you seeing the win?"

"I didn't tell you that I didn't want any distractions just so that I could be with Finn! I told _him_ the exact same thing when he tried to get back together with me."

"He listens as well as he sings, then."

She ignored the dig, for now. "What do you want me to say, Jesse?"

"Why you're here, making us go through this pointless exercise."

Rachel was about 5 seconds away from performing a diva storm out, the likes of which even her fellow glee club members had yet to see from her, but she took a calming breath and somehow managed to push her frustration away. "Because, I think there's a way we can still salvage our relationship if you would just stop being mad at me for 2 seconds and _talk to me_!" Maybe she should have taken a couple more breaths. A corner of Jesse's mouth twitched and she had to hold up a silencing hand. "If you make one comment about my dramatic tendencies I will slap you."

"Was that statement meant to disprove said leanings?" She almost growled at him. "Okay, okay. I can probably spare 2 seconds."

"That's very generous of you, Jesse." He bowed his head graciously, and despite herself Rachel barely smothered a small smile. "I don't want a Nick Arnstein."

"Any time you want to send the real Rachel out to talk to me, I'd be willing to talk to her."

"I want to _play_ Fanny Brice, I don't want to _be_ her. I don't want to be the girl who keeps forgiving a guy for breaking her heart, and doesn't care that the same guy has no respect for her onstage dreams. I'm coming back here after graduation, Jesse, and I'm never leaving."

Jesse was silent for a few moments, to the point where Rachel would have suspected that he'd gone back to ignoring her if he wasn't still staring directly into her eyes. "So, that puts Finn out of the running, but what does it have to do with me?"

Rachel considered him. "I want a Fiyero. A guy who's using a bad boy image to cover up that he cares. A guy who looks at all the quirks that I and everyone else around me see as unattractive, and loves them. It also wouldn't hurt if he had a great voice."

"Rach..." He started to lean towards her, but she placed a hand on his chest, applying just enough pressure to cease his movement.

"I think you're that guy, but I need you to do something for me."

Jesse looked more confused now than ever. "What?"

"Go back to UCLA. Apply to Julliard or Tisch. Start auditioning for plays. I appreciate so much that you came back to fix everything that went wrong last year, but if we try and have a relationship right now... with your dreams stalled... We wouldn't make it."

After her speech, it took all of Rachel's control not to squirm under Jesse's gaze.

"I'll give you one year," he finally agreed. "I will come to see you next year at Nationals, so you better whip that team of yours into shape so they actually make it again."

Leaning forward, Rachel brushed the lightest of kisses against Jesse mouth. "One year."

Standing up, she knew that if she delayed packing any longer then her teammates were likely to leave her behind rather than risk missing the plane themselves (plus she was sure some of them were waiting for their chance to yell at her), Rachel began to make her way across the room, but stopped short when he called out her name.

"I know being at that school is hard for you... If you need to date... someone, just for this year... I won't like it, but I won't hold it against you."

Tears gathered in Rachel's eyes, but they didn't fall. "Thank you." She started, then stopped again. "Don't think that means you're allowed to date."

Jesse's head fell back as he laughed the biggest laugh she'd heard from him in days. "Wouldn't dream of it, Drama Queen."

"I'll call you when I get back from Ohio."

"And I won't ignore it."

Rachel really did love New York.

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><p><strong>The End<strong>


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